Tyrolean Stockings by Ann Budd FO

Pattern: Tyrolean Stockings by Anne Budd

Source: Interweave Knits Fall 2007

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca

Source: Eweknit Toronto

Colour: 62178 Lot: 1102

Needles: 3.25 dpns

Start: May 19 Finish: June 8, 2013

Modifcations: None

Fabulous Pattern! The handsome cable down the shin seems the show stopper the real brilliance is the back!

The decreases look good when the sock is without a calf but put them on and the structure really pops.

I particularly love how the tight twisted and 4-stitch cable motifs keep their shape as the surrounding ribbing provides all the "give". (The photos with the pattern present a bird-like leg and positive ease...my hefty calves fill things out!)

The way the leg design morphs into the ribbing on the instep lends nice fit and feel.

The slipped stitch heel matches the heel's visual scale to the rest of the sock.

Then there's the yarn. This 50/50 Alpaca/Wool blend is really nice to work with, carries the dye so as to allow a wonderful depth of colour and of course, feels great.

It has nothing of the rustic look of the pattern photos instead offering a cozy factor that's as much visual as it is tactile.

 Lots and lots of halo

While maintaining stitch definition

Up close the colour seems almost neon but then miraculously it softens from a distance albeit to a still surprising-for-the-pattern shade of salmon.

I've used this yarn once before and I liked it even more this time than last. I'll be using it again. As for the socks these were my first attempt at knee highs. They won't be my last!

Thanks for dropping by to check these out!